Shock absorber



N. WYETH SHOCK ABSORBER July 22, 1952 Filed March s, 1950 INVENTOR.

NATHAN/EL WVU/J '50727' BY n 1 Iliff! WH r- Patented July 22, 1952 i "fs-neck' ABsoRBER Nathaniel-Wyeth Dearborn, Mich., assignor to Ford Motor4 Company, Dearborn, Mich.,a corporation oI` Delaware 'I v'Applicatwin March a, 1950', serial No. 147,415y

. i v 1 Claim. l Y l ri'his invention relates generally to hydraulic shock absorbers and refers more particularly to improvements in direct acting shock absorbers' for motor vehicles. l y 5 A An object of the present invention is to provide ,a hydraulic shock absorber adapted to be connected between sprung and unsprung parts of. a motor vehicle and arranged to effectively prevent excessive relative movement -between these j parts. This is accomplished by `providing a hydraulic cut-off arranged to automatically close communication through a valved piston at a predetermined point in the stroke of the piston and to trap a quantity of oil in the shock absorber toiorm a fluid buffer aganstffurther relative movement. between rthe shock absorber parts and between the sprung. andunsprung parts of the vehicle. v i j 'A further object of the invention is to provide a hydraulic shock absorber having a ,multiple stage cutoff system arrangedto progressively decrease and finally completely cut oifrtheflow ofoilr through the valved shock absorber piston. This construction `enalplesthe dutoff to Ybe eifected gradually to minimize'.tliesliockV load and to provide a controlled dampeningl'o the relative movement between the sprung and unsprung parts of the vehicle. y

` Still another object of theinvention isv toprovide afshock absorber capable of attaining the objects mentioned above without materially increasing the cost thereof. A conventional shock absorber can be readilymodifled in accordance with the present invention withoutthe addition of extra parts, and inasmuch as a rubber bumper conventionally used in vehicle suspensions may be eliminated, a net saving in overall cost may result.

Other objects and advantages of this` invention will be made more apparent as this description proceeds, especially when; considered in connection with vthe accompanying drawing,

wherein:

Figure 1 is a transverse cross sectional view through the independent front wheel suspension of a motor vehicle incorporating the present invention. l

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross sectional nview of the shock absorber shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of a modification.l Y A f y Referring now to the drawing, and particularly to Figure 1, there vis shownV aconventional independent front wheel suspension fora motor I I j.

vehicle. l a transverse cross frame member pvotallylsupporting an uppersuspension arm I2 and a lower suspension arm I3. The upperand lower ends of a spindle support I4 are pivotally connected to the outer ends ofthe upper and lower suspension arms respectively.- A wheel 4spindle I6 rotatably supports a vehicle wheel I1.. lA' compression coil spring I9 is mounted between a spring seat 2| provided on the-frame cross member Il and. a spring pany 22' carried by the lower suspension arm I3. 23 is a'tubular direct acting shock absorber also connected between vthe cross frame member vII Vand thevspring r pan `22. As best seen in Figure 2, A is the pressure cylinder, B the reserve chamber, and:` C the-'piston assembly of the shock absorber II. l

The pressure cylinder Ais jtubularin form and is provided at its',v upper end with a guide bushing 24 forming a closure member lfor'the cylinder. The guide jbushing 2 4 has a central bore 26 for slideably 4receiving,the'piston rod 21. which in turn carries vat its lower vend the piston C. l

Reserve cylinder B is likewise tubular inform and encircles the pressure cylinder A, providing achamber therebetweenfor reserve iiuid. At `its upper end the reserve cylinder B is ysupported. upon the guide' bushing'zl.l lA cap 28 is mounted at the upper end ofthe reserve cylinder Band houses a sealing member-Sarranged to prevent leakage adjacent thepiston rod 2l. .'A passage 3| is provided in the guide bushing 24so that liquid which may leak past the bushing will be returned to the reserve chamber.

At their lower yends the pressure cylinder A and reserve cylinder B .are joined by interconnected closure members32 and 33, the latter being welded to theupper end of a short rod 34.

vAs best seen in FigureY 1, the rod 34 is attached lto the spring pan 22 by means of rubber grommets 36 and a threadednut 3l. The pressure cylinder A is thus attached'to the lower suspension arm and hence .to theunsprung portion of the Wheel suspension'.

The upper endof the piston rod -2'! extends beyond'the upper end of the cylinders A and B andiisattached by" means 'of grommets 38 and a nut 39 to av bracket 4|"xedly mounted'upon thecross frame member II L 'Y The piston rod and the pistons carried therebyare' thus connected to a sprung portion of the vehicle chassis.-

The reference character II indicates- 46, and it will be seen that the valve 44 thus controls the transfer of fluid between opposite sides of the piston assembly C. The valve 44 is slideably mounted upon a stem. 41 extending centrally through the bore 42 and anchored at its upper end in the piston rod 21. An annular chamber is thus formed in the bore 42 surrounding 24 at the top of the pressure cylinder A.

ing the stem 41.

In conventional shock absorbers a `radial port vis formed in the piston rod .21 immediately 'adjacent the upper surface of the piston C to establish communication between the central bore., and the pressure cylinder, the port being located in this position to enable the mechanism to function as a shock absorber throughout the greatest lpossible travel `of the piston in the cylinder. In

the 4present construction, the port immediately adjacent the piston is omitted, the bore 42 isextended upwardly in thepiston roda greater.V disstance, andradial ports 5| and 52 are provided to establish communication between the central bore 42 and the pressure cylinderuA at points remote from the pistonassembly C. v Y

In the form of the invention -shownrin Figure 2 I have provided Va .pair of axially aligned ports 5|' extending through the piston rod 21 adjacent the upper end of the bore 42. Intermediate the ports 5| and the upper end of the piston assembly CVI haveprovideda second and somewhat smaller radially extending port 52. It will be apparent that the aligned ports 5| Vprovide' communica- Vtion lbetween the upper end of the .cyclindrical bore 42 andthe interior of the. pressure cylinder A Aand permit asu'bstantial ow of iluid therebetween.,V Thesingle'port 52, beingsomewhat smaller in diameter, .forms a restricted 'communication betweenth'e bore42 and the interior vof the pressure cylinder A.` The totalilow of usual control bythe shock absorber, the `ports 5| and 52 being open to the interior of the pressurecylinder A.- Unusual conditions, however, such Vas large chuclcholesancl bumps, Vmay result in' abnormally large movement'of the road wheel relative to the vehicle frame, vand under some circumstances might result in damage to the wheel suspension. To cushion this abnormal movement it is customary to provide-'rubber bumpers; As seen in Figure l, a lower rubber bumper 53 is mounted upon the lowersuspension arm I3 in position to contactthe bracketV 54 carried by the front rcrossframe memberll should the bounce stroke of the wheel suspension exceed safe limits. With the usual construction, an'upper rubber bumpenshown in phantom in Figure 1 and designated by the reference characterv 56, is carried on the bracket 54v at the outboard end of the front cross `frame member A'lil' .in position-to be contacted'by the upper suspension arm` l2 should the rebound stroke be eX- cessive. With the present invention it is possible to eliminate this upper rubber bumper since the shock absorber itself provides the necessary cushion and safety check to prevent damage to the Wheel suspension system should the rebound stroke be abnormally large.

During the rebound stroke, or when the vehicle wheel falls due to a chuck Ahole or the like, the piston assembly C is raised inthe pressure cylinder A. Under normal operating conditions, the upper limit of the travel of the Vradial ports 5| is somewhat below thebottom of the guide bush- When the ystroke exceeds the normal limits, how- Yand pisto'nassembly C relative to the pressurel cylinder A is such that the upper ports 5| are covered by `the guide bushing 24, thus cutting off communication between the pressure cylinder A and the interior of the bore42 through the ports 5|. Under these circumstances, the only communication between the pressure cylinder and the bore is through the single restricted port 5.2, and this restriction cushions the travel of the piston in the cylinder. This lmay be suicient to check vfurthery movement of the `piston in the cylinder and bring the rebound stroke to `a hal-t, but if the movementY continues it willbe seen that the restricted port 52 will Vbe covered by the guidefbushing 24 as well. When this occurs, all communication is cut off between the interior of the pressure cylinder A and the interior of the bore 42. Fluid is .now trapped -in the bottom of the pressure cylinder A between the .guidefbushing 24and the piston C forming, except `for possibly a small amountvof leakage, a iluid block. rkThe rebound stroke is thus checked and damage to the suspension system is obviated. A,

Ithas been found that the conventional shock absorber is suii'lcie'ntly 'stron'gto operate in the above mannerand can be readily Vmodified with aminimum of cost. The ports 5| and 52 can be formed ,by simple drilling 'operations and the slight additional cost of'the shock absorber is overweighed by thepossibility o'f eliminatingy the ton rod -BI is formed with a cylindrical bore 62 extending upwardlywithin the piston rod Va s'ubstantial distanceabove the top ofV the piston 63.

In the upper end of the bore 52a pair of aligned radial ports 64 arefprovided to establish communication between the bore 52 and the interior of ther pressure cylinder 66. Spaced beneath 'the ports 64 are a pair of aligned radial ports 61 somewhat smaller in 'diameter than the ports 64,

Y and spaced a predetermined distance between the ports 61 is a single radial port EB of relatively small size. It will be apparent that this construction provides a multiplefstage cutoff effective to cushion abnormal rebound movement in stages.. -The upperY ports Y |54 are first covered by the-closure member'V (not shown) at Athe upper end of the pressure 'cylinder 55, vv.restricting the flow to the ports 81 and 68. Further movement causes the ports 61 to be covered by the closure member further restricting the now to the single port 68, and still further movement covers the port 68 forming a complete iluid cutoff. It will ybe apparent that other combinations are available and that the number, location and size of the ports establishing communication between the pressure cylinder and the central bore, can be varied to provide the desired effect. It is likewise within the scope of my invention to provide a uid cutoff and multiple stage fluid cushion for the bounce stroke as well.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact construction shown and described, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as dened in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A direct acting hydraulic shock absorber for a motor vehicle adapted to be mounted between sprung and unsprung parts of the vehicle, comprising a pressure cylinder attached to one of said parts, a piston reciprocable in said cylinder and attached to the other of said parts, a closure member for one end of said cylinder formed with a cylindrical opening through which said piston rod extends, said piston and piston rod having an axial passageway formed therein extending completely through said piston and into said piston rod a substantial distance beyond said piston, a valve stem of smaller diameter than the diameter of said passageway extending concentrically through said passageway and having one end xed in said piston and its opposite end fixed in said piston rod adjacent the end of said passageway, said passageway being enlarged intermediate its length to form a valve seat, a valve slidably mounted upon said valve stem and adapted to engage said valve seat to close communication between said passageway and said pressure cylinder on the side of said piston remote from said piston rod, a spring surrounding said valve stem and engaging said valve to yieldably hold the latter against said valve seat, and a plurality of axially spaced ports in said piston rod establishing communication between said passageway and said pressure cylinder, one of said ports being adjacent the end of said passageway in said piston rod and in position to be covered by said closure member after predetermined relative movement between said sprung and unsprung parts of the vehicle to restrict the now of uid between said passageway and said pressure cylinder to the cross sectional area of the other ports to cushion further relative movement, said other ports being located between said first mentioned port and said piston in position to be successively covered by said closure member upon further relative movement to trap a body of fluid in said pressure cylinder.

NATHANIEL WYETH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,365,030 Flentje Jan. 11, 1921 2,182,016 Deutsch Dec. 5, 1939 2,321,832 Leighton 1 June 15, 1943 

